Well, one thing is for sure. It is not up to you, or me, as to who will enter Heaven and who will not.
That said, there is a belief amongst some Christians that we are all saved. God loves us all. Christ died for all of us so that we may all be forgiven. We will all go to Heaven. A loving and caring God will not condemn some of His creations to eternal damnation.
I believe such teaching is a little confused.
Of course God loves us all, and Jesus died so that we may all be forgiven. However ...
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Notice the conditional clause: "that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."
See also:
Matthew 7:21 - Not everyone who calls me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who do what my Father in Heaven wants them to do.
Yet again, here Jesus says, "but only those ..."
It is clear from what He says here, and He has said on other occasions in the Bible, that there is a condition upon which someone will enter Heaven. Jesus mentions Heaven and hell several times in the Gospels. At no time did He say that it is a free for all and everyone will enter Heaven no matter what.
Think of this another way: If God asked you why should you enter Heaven; what would you say?
Let us exclude the usual platitudes like: "Because You love me. Because Jesus died for me." and so on. Why should you enter Heaven? If you were to die today, are you sure, for certain, that you will enter Heaven?
Of course, God loves us all and invites us all to be with Him in Heaven for eternity. But we have to accept that invitation. We have to RSVP that invitation.
We do so by believing. By accepting God as our loving Father and Creator Lord of all. By accepting Jesus as His only Son. By believing and living according to the Word of God.
We are free to either accept God and His love for us, or to turn Him down and turn our backs on Him.
Of course ... we will all be saved and enter Heaven ... if we want to!!!
The final decision is ours. We choose to be excluded from Heaven by our behaviour.
By not understanding this simple fact, I fear that many are sleep-walking their way into hell.
Wise words. Thank you, Victor.
ReplyDeleteThank you my friend.
DeleteGod bless, Sandi.
I remember growing up from a small boy
ReplyDeleteinto my teens that our parish priest,
Father Pedrick, who used to teach us
on Friday after school, Catechism,
told us that 'ONE' event in our lives,
just the 'ONE' will determine in you go
to Heaven or Hell..True! Still remember
it to this day..!
Father Pedrick was our parish priest
for some 30+ years, l remember a small
celebration when he reached 25yrs...
But! That's what he told us..one thing,
one act, would determine if your enter
the kingdom or not..!
~~Now..Work that one out~~
Mind you..I've always said, jokingly of
course..
"I don't want to go to heaven..l shan't
know anybody there"....HeHe! Bless!
The one event is making a decision to follow Christ and God's Word.
DeleteGod bless, Willie.
...with the current events of the day, I hope that HELL is a HUGE place!
ReplyDeleteLet us pray for peace.
DeleteGod bless, Tom.
Okay dude, I must say this is one of your BEST lines:
ReplyDeleteBut we have to accept that invitation. We have to RSVP that invitation.........
So well said.
I will remember that one for a long time. THANKS
Sherry & jack on this side....
You are always so nice to me, Jack, with your kind words. Thank you so much.
DeleteGod loves us, but we need to acknowledge and respond to that love.
Praying for you, Sherry and family. God bless.
The decision to accept the invitation rests solely with us, Victor. There's that free will business again!
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
Yes, you are totally correct. The decision to accept God in our lives is totally ours to make.
DeleteGod bless, Martha.
Well said, Victor!
ReplyDeleteThanx Bill.
DeleteGod bless always.
AMEN AMEN! I agree!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Happyone.
DeleteGod bless.
Dearest Victor,
ReplyDeleteYes, accepting and living such a life that we EARN that Moral Passport to Heaven...
It cannot be bought, nor bartered.
Hugs,
Mariette
Well said, Mariette. Thank you.
DeleteGod bless.
💞
DeleteWhat a powerful closing sentence! My most fervent wish is to be deemed worthy in the Father's eyes.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mevely.
DeleteWe are all worthy of God's love; but we need to accept this love and show it by our behaviour towards Him.
God bless you and yours.
A decision to enter into the Father’s Kingdom is entirely up the the individual. What a wonderfully spoken message for today. I agree with you entirely. Blessings, Victor.
ReplyDeleteThank you Nells, you are so kind to me. Thank you.
DeleteGod bless always.
He stands at the door and knocks, we need to open the door.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Mimi. You are so right.
DeleteGod bless you.
RSVP? I don't think the Post Office would accept "Heaven" as a legitimate address (*~*) I'm pretty sure I'll get there anyway.
ReplyDeleteSometimes humour is misplaced.
DeleteGod bless.
As you have referred to in your post Victor, the scriptures say that whoever believes in Jesus shall not perish but have eternal life. So it is obvious that not everyone will have eternal life. That is why we must endeavour to pray for all of mankind to come to Jesus. God bless.
ReplyDeleteAmen Brenda. Well said.
DeleteGod bless.